Tray for curved surface-structured battery cell

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a battery cell tray for receiving a secondary battery that can be repeatedly charged and discharged. More particularly, there is provided a battery cell tray having a curved battery cell receiving part that is capable of improving dimensional stability of a curved battery cell.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a battery cell tray for receiving asecondary battery that can be repeatedly charged and discharged and,more particularly, to a battery cell tray having a curved battery cellreceiving part that is capable of improving dimensional stability of acurved battery cell.

BACKGROUND ART

With remarkable development of information technology (IT), a greatvariety of portable information communication devices has beenpopularized. As a result, in the 21^(st) century, we are moving toward aubiquitous society in which high-quality information service is possibleregardless of time and place. Lithium secondary batteries are veryimportant to realize such a ubiquitous society.

In recent years, design of electronic devices has been very important inconsumers' choice of products and the electronic devices have beengradually miniaturized and thinned according to consumers' liking. Tothis end, there is a high necessity for miniaturizing and thinning alithium secondary battery in order to minimize unnecessary waste of aninternal space of each of the electronic devices. In addition, it isnecessary for the lithium secondary battery to have various shapescorresponding to shapes of the electronic devices. In recent years, thedemand for a curved battery, including a flexible battery, hasincreased.

In connection with this case, Korean Patent Application Publication No.2012-0082808 discloses a curved battery. However, Korean PatentApplication Publication No. 2012-0082808 only discloses a curved batterymounted in an electronic device but does not disclose problems causedfrom the curved battery.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

The inventors of the present application have found that a curvedpouch-shaped battery has a problem in that curvature of the curvedpouch-shaped battery is changed due to external impact. This problemlowers dimensional stability of the battery with the result that it isdifficult to mount the battery in an electronic device and, therefore,yield of batteries is decreased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, andit is an object of the present invention to provide a battery cell trayhaving a curved battery cell receiving part that is capable ofpreventing curvature of a curved battery cell from being changed due toexternal impact and improving dimensional stability of the battery cell,thereby increasing yield of curved battery cells.

Technical Solution

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the above andother objects can be accomplished by the provision of a battery celltray including a flat body and at least one battery cell mount unitformed at the flat body in a depressed shape, the battery cell mountunit including a base surface having a curved surface corresponding to acurved surface of a battery cell to be mounted in the battery cell mountunit and side walls connected between the base surface and the flatbody.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a battery cell tray including a flat body and at least onebattery cell mount unit formed at the flat body in a depressed shape,the battery cell mount unit including a flat base surface comprising atleast one rib having a curved surface corresponding to a curved surfaceof a battery cell to be mounted in the battery cell mount unit and sidewalls connected between the flat base surface and the flat body.

The term “connection” may be used as a meaning including “coupling” or“fastening” and “extending.” The term “coupling” or “fastening” may meanthat the base surface and the flat body are integrated into one using afastening structure or a fastening member. The term “extending” may meanthat the base surface and the flat body are integrally formed byinjection molding. In this specification, coupling between separatemembers may be achieved using coupling methods, such as a fasteningmethod using a coupling protrusion and a coupling groove, a boltfastening method, and a sliding fastening method, well known in the artto which the present invention pertains.

The term “molding” may not mean that the curved surface is formed by aseparate member, such as a rib, which will hereinafter be described, butmean that the base surface is formed to have a curved surface, forexample, by injection molding.

The curved battery cell may be a pouch-shaped battery cell including anelectrolyte, an electrode assembly having a curved stacked surface of acathode, an anode, and a separator, electrode leads connected toelectrode tabs of the electrode assembly, and a battery case having theelectrolyte and the electrode assembly received in a receiving parthaving a curved surface corresponding to the curved surface of theelectrode assembly, an opening of the battery case being sealed in astate in which the electrode leads are exposed outward.

The battery case may be made of a laminate sheet including a metal layerand a resin layer. Specifically, the laminate sheet may be an aluminumlaminate sheet. The battery case made of the laminate sheet may includea lower case including a depressed receiving part and an outer edge partextending from the receiving part and an upper case coupled to the lowercase by thermal bonding. According to circumstances, the upper case mayinclude a depressed receiving part and an outer edge part extending fromthe receiving part. The upper case and the lower case may be separatedfrom each other. Alternatively, the upper case and the lower case may bepartially connected to each other.

The battery case made of the laminate sheet exhibits a higher degree offreedom in shape than a metal can type battery case. However, thebattery case made of the laminate sheet exhibits low mechanical strengthagainst external impact and a spring back phenomenon may easily occur inthe battery case made of the laminate sheet. In order to prevent theoccurrence of a spring back phenomenon due to the curved structure ofthe battery cell and to prevent the curvature of the battery cell frombeing changed due to external impact, therefore, the inventors of thepresent application have invented a battery cell tray having a curvedbattery cell mount unit

The receiving part of the battery case may correspond to the receivingpart of the finished pouch-shaped battery cell. The region of thebattery case at which the opening is sealed may be formed at the outeredge of the receiving part of the finished pouch-shaped battery cell.Hereinafter, the sealed region may be referred to as an outercircumferential sealed portion.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the battery case may have one or moreouter circumferential sealed portions bent toward an outer wall of thereceiving part. Specifically, the battery case may have one or moreouter circumferential sealed portions bent toward the outer wall of thereceiving part excluding another outer circumferential sealed portionfrom which the electrode leads are exposed outward. More specifically,the electrode leads may be bent toward the unbent outer circumferentialsealed portion.

The rib may be an independent structure separated from the tray. The ribmay be coupled to the flat base surface using a coupling method wellknown in the art to which the present invention pertains.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the rib may include a first flat surfacefacing the flat base surface and a first curved surface opposite to thefirst flat surface and opposite ends of the first flat surface and thefirst curved surface may be connected to each other. The rib may be astructure manufactured by injection molding. Alternatively, the rib maybe a structure manufactured by coupling between a first member includingthe first flat surface and a second member including the first curvedsurface.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the battery cell tray may include two ormore ribs and the ribs m spaced apart from each other.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the side walls may extend from the flatbody and the base surface or the flat base surface may extend from theside walls.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the side walls may be coupled to the flatbody and the base surface or the flat base surface may extend from theside walls.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the side walls may be coupled to the flatbody and the base surface or the flat base surface may be coupled to theside walls.

At least one of the side walls may be provided with at least onedepression. The depression may provide an extra space for enabling thebattery cell to be easily mounted into and separated from the batterycell mount unit, thereby improving processability.

In addition, one or more of the side walls formed between at least twoadjacent battery cell mount units may be provided with depressions,which may communicate with each other in a state in which thedepressions face each other.

The depressions communicating with each other may provide an extra spacefor enabling the respective battery cells to be easily mounted into andseparated from the adjacent battery cell mount units.

In a non-limiting embodiment, at least one of the side walls may beprovided with an opening.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the battery cell tray may have one batterycell mount unit. In this case, battery cell trays, each of which has onebattery cell mount unit, may be referred to as sub trays. The sub traysmay be coupled to each other to constitute a battery cell tray includingtwo or more battery cell mount units. Of course, a battery cell trayincluding two or more battery cell mount units may be manufactured byinjection molding.

The battery cell mount unit may include a battery cell body mount parthaving a receiving space corresponding to a shape of a body of thebattery cell and an electrode lead mount part extending from a portionof the battery cell body mount part in a direction in which electrodeleads protrude.

The battery cell tray may be made of an elastic material that is capableof eliminating external impact. In addition, the battery cell tray maybe made of a polymer material exhibiting high electric insulativity.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of thepresent invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view typically showing a curved battery cellaccording to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view typically showing a battery cell trayhousing according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention;and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view typically showing a state in which thebattery cell of FIG. 1 is mounted in the battery cell tray of FIG. 2.

BEST MODE

Now, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted,however, that the scope of the present invention is not limited by theillustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view typically showing a curved battery cellaccording to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention.Referring to FIG. 1, a curved battery cell 100 is completed by sealingan opening in a state in which an electrode assembly is received in areceiving part 150 of a pouch-shaped battery case made of a laminatesheet together with an electrolyte. Of four outer circumferential sealedportions 131, 132, 133, and 134, the three outer circumferential sealedportions 131, 132, and 133 are bent toward a side 140 of the batterycell 100 excluding the outer circumferential sealed portion 134, fromwhich electrode leads 111 and 112 are exposed outward. The electrodeleads 111 and 112 are exposed outward from the outer circumferentialsealed portion 134, which is not bent.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view typically showing a battery cell trayhousing according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present inventionand FIG. 3 is a perspective view typically showing a state in which thebattery cell of FIG. 1 is mounted in the battery cell tray of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 2, a battery cell tray 200 includes a flat body 210and battery cell mount units 220 formed at the flat body 210 in adepressed shape. Each of the battery cell mount units 220 includes aflat base surface 221 and side walls 222 extending from the flat body210 to the flat base surface 221. Two ribs 230, each of which includes afirst curved surface and a first flat surface configured such thatopposite ends of the first curved surface and the first flat surface areconnected to each other, are mounted at the flat base surface 221. Adepression 222A is formed at one of the side walls 222. Another of theside walls 222 formed between the battery cell mount units 220 such thatthe side wall 222 faces the depression 222A is provided with an openingZ, through which the depression 222A communicates with anotherdepression. A region Y is a battery cell body mount part and a region Xis an electrode lead mount part. The electrode lead mount part X extendsfrom a portion of the battery cell body mount part Y in a direction inwhich electrode leads protrude. Referring to FIG. 3, the battery cell100 of FIG. 1 is Mounted in one of the battery cell mount units 220,each of which is constituted by the battery cell body mount part Y andthe electrode lead mount part X.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As is apparent from the above description, it is possible to preventcurvature of a curved battery cell from being changed due to externalimpact. Consequently, the present invention has the effect of providinga curved battery cell exhibiting improved dimensional stability.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A battery cell tray comprising: at leastone curved battery cell having a first curved surface and a secondcurved surface opposite the first curved surface, the first curvedsurface being convex and the second curved surface being concave; a flatbody having a planar upper surface; and at least one battery cell mountunit is formed at the flat body in a depressed shape from the planarupper surface of the flat body, the at least one battery cell mount unitcomprising a base surface having a curved surface corresponding to thesecond curved surface of the at least one curved battery cell mounted inthe battery cell mount unit and side walls connected between the basesurface and the planar upper surface of the flat body, and all sidewalls of the at least one battery cell mount unit extend downward fromthe planar upper surface of the flat body, wherein the curved surface ofthe base surface fully extends from one side wall of said side walls toan opposite side wall of said side walls, and wherein the curved surfacecomprises two curved surfaces spaced apart by a flat surface of the basesurface, the flat surface fully extending from the one side wall of saidwalls to the opposite side wall of said side walls.
 2. The battery celltray according to claim 1, wherein the side walls extend from the flatbody, and the base surface extends from the side walls.
 3. The batterycell tray according to claim 1, wherein the side walls are coupled tothe flat body, and the base surface extends from the side walls.
 4. Thebattery cell tray according to claim 1, wherein the side walls arecoupled to the flat body, and the base surface is coupled to the sidewalls.
 5. The battery cell tray according to claim 1, wherein the atleast one battery cell mount unit comprises: a battery cell body mountpart having a receiving space corresponding to a shape of a body of theat least one curved battery cell; and an electrode lead mount partextending from a portion of the battery cell body mount part in adirection in which electrode leads protrude.
 6. The battery cell trayaccording to claim 1, wherein at least one of the side walls is providedwith an opening.
 7. The battery cell tray according to claim 1, whereinat least one of the side walls is provided with at least one depression.8. A battery cell tray comprising: at least one curved battery cellhaving a first curved surface and a second curved surface opposite thefirst curved surface, the first curved surface being convex and thesecond curved surface being concave; a flat body; and at least onebattery cell mount unit formed at the flat body in a depressed shape,the at least one battery cell mount unit comprising a flat base surfacecomprising at least one rib having a curved surface corresponding to thesecond curved surface of the at least one curved battery cell mounted inthe battery cell mount unit and side walls connected between the flatbase surface and the flat body, wherein the curved surface of the atleast one rib fully extends from one side wall of said side walls to anopposite side wall of said side walls, and wherein the at least one ribcomprises at least two ribs spaced apart by a flat surface of the flatbase surface, the flat surface fully extending from the one side wall ofsaid side walls to the opposite side wall of said side walls.
 9. Thebattery cell tray according to claim 8, wherein the at least one ribcomprises a first flat surface facing the flat base surface and a firstcurved surface of the at least one rib opposite to the first flatsurface, and opposite ends of the first flat surface and the firstcurved surface are connected to each other.
 10. The battery cell trayaccording to claim 8, wherein the side walls extend from the flat body,and the flat base surface extends from the side walls.
 11. The batterycell tray according to claim 8, wherein the side walls are coupled tothe flat body, and the flat base surface extends from the side walls.12. The battery cell tray according to claim 8, wherein the side wallsare coupled to the flat body, and the flat base surface is coupled tothe side walls.
 13. The battery cell tray according to claim 8, whereinthe at least one battery cell mount unit comprises: a battery cell bodymount part having a receiving space corresponding to a shape of a bodyof the at least one curved battery cell; and an electrode lead mountpart extending from a portion of the battery cell body mount part in adirection in which electrode leads protrude.
 14. The battery cell trayaccording to claim 8, wherein at least one of the side walls is providedwith an opening.
 15. The battery cell tray according to claim 8, whereinat least one of the side walls is provided with at least one depression.16. The battery cell tray according to claim 8, wherein the at least onebattery wall mount unit includes two battery wall mount units, andwherein the two battery cell mount units are arranged adjacent eachother and a corresponding side wall of each battery cell mount unitincludes a depression, the corresponding side walls being adjacent eachother such that the depression of each of the corresponding side wallscommunicate with each other in a state in which the depressions faceeach other.
 17. A battery cell tray comprising: two curved batterycells, each battery cell having a first curved surface and a secondcurved surface opposite the first curved surface, the first curvedsurface being convex and the second curved surface being concave; a flatbody; and two battery cell mount units formed at the flat body in adepressed shape, each battery cell mount unit comprising a base surfacehaving a curved surface corresponding to the second curved surface of acorresponding curved battery cell of the two curved battery cellsmounted in a respective battery cell mount unit of the two battery cellmount units and side walls connected between the base surface and theflat body, wherein the two battery cell mount units are arrangedadjacent each other and a corresponding side wall of each battery cellmount unit includes a depression, the corresponding side walls beingadjacent each other such that the depression of each of thecorresponding side walls communicate with each other in a state in whichthe depressions face each other.